BioMar Group will invest in the additional capacity of a factory in Denmark, the company announced.

The new line will be highly specialised and dedicated to fry and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) feed production, enabling the factory to increase flexibility, quality and production performance.

For the past years, the BioMar business unit in Denmark (located in Brande) has experienced a significant growth in volumes sold, as well as an expanding customer base.

The factory in Denmark is currently delivering feed to farmers across Europe and has a very strong foothold in eastern European countries and the RAS segment across all BioMar markets.

"BioMar has experienced a solid growth in market share on our core markets in Europe and the factory in Brande has through the last years been expanding capacity by removing bottlenecks and optimising operational processes. We foresee that the growth will continue and we need to take a significant leap forward to make sure we can deliver on the future demands from the customers", Carlos Diaz, CEO of BioMar Group, said.

The new line is expected to be ready in Q2 2019 with a budget of DKK90 million (US$14.4 million). Upon expansion, the factory will be able to deliver 150,000 tonnes of feed per year. It is BioMar's largest production unit in Europe outside the salmon markets.

The factory is designed to accommodate a flexible production set-up. It delivers mainly feed for species such as trout, eel, sturgeon and salmon in RAS. Overall, the factory produces feed for more than 40 species.

The factory has been a pioneer in RAS feed and is highly recognised for its products as well as expertise within this segment. BioMar stated that the new line will represent a significant step forward developing RAS feed with even higher growth performance as well as nutritional quality.

"We are already recognised in the market for the high quality and performance of our fry and RAS feed from the factory in Denmark and the factory is often delivering feed to support other business units. This is simply a step making sure we stay in front, delivering a market leading customer value proposition in terms of agility, quality and performance," Diaz said.